Tale Of A Battle
by Lur27
Summary: ONE-SHOT. After closing the 'Zombie Case' Castle and Beckett play a little game of Laser-Tag.Fluff to no end. Spoilers Not really. We all know there are zombies in that episode, right? for Undead Again 4x22.


**A/N: **The other day 'Oneday1' wrote this on Tumblr:

Please please please let Rick & Kate play laser tag in 'Undead Again' and then Rick sneaks up on her and wraps her in his arms and bites her earlobe, then kisses her neck …

… and she just says "I love you too."

I thought it was a great idea for a story, so I asked her if I could use it, and well, the rest is history :) Thank you, girl, for the great idea!

My excuses for my grammar and other mistakes you may find. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: Not mine. Never were, never will.**

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**Tale of a Battle**

The case was closed. The most bizarre, crazy case of all times was finally over, and despite the satisfaction of having solved the 'zombie mystery', knowing that it had been Castle's last case, made it hard to feel good about it.

Beckett was putting away the photos and the other evidences in a box, her gaze focused on her almost former partner, who was sitting on his chair lost in his own thoughts.

"Wow! This has been without a doubt the weirdest case of my career. I don't think nothing will ever top this one." The detective said, trying to bring him back from his reverie.

Castle looked up at her and smiled. "Yeah, you can say that. The weirdest thing ever." He agreed.

The rareness of the case had made him forget about everything else. They had worked side by side, like they used to do before everything had gone to hell.

He had felt wonderful not thinking about how deeply hurt he was, or how difficult it was for him to be around her and not being able to touch her, kiss her, tell her how he felt. It had been amazing having their banter back, their chemistry working full force again.

Yes, it had been a weird case, but also the best way to say goodbye without feeling broken.

Castle stood up and picked up his coat from the back of his chair. Noticing his moves, Beckett stopped her gathering and stared at him, her lower lip trapped by her teeth.

"I should be going. I have to pack some stuff and start dinner before Alexis gets home." He said, putting on his coat.

Beckett couldn't hide the pain it caused to her to hear him say he was leaving, and what hurt the most was that he was doing it in such a way, like was leaving for the night. As if this was just a 'see you tomorrow' instead of an 'until I see you again, if I ever do'.

That made her mad. She was mad at him like she had never been before. For making her feel like she was the worst bitch on earth, for being a stubborn bastard and not telling her what was going on, for making her fall in love with him, for promising always and then pulling away like it didn't matter. Yes, she was mad.

And she was mad at herself too, even more than she was with him, because she had the words to make this better. She knew she should tell him the truth, she knew he deserved to know, but she was a coward. Now that he was leaving, how could she open her heart to him?

It took her a while to process his words, and after analyzing them, she replied.

"Pack? You're going somewhere?" She asked confused. He didn't say anything about leaving the city.

"Oh, no. I… It's just some stuff I'm going to give away. Now that Alexis is leaving, there are some things I won't be using anymore."

His face became sad and wistful. Kate could tell it hurt him having to get rid of whatever it was.

"She will come visit, Castle. You shouldn't get rid of things just because she's going to college. I think you should give it a thought before you do anything you may regret later." She said, putting the last photo inside the box and closing it.

Castle shook his head. "Nah. I asked her to play Laser-tag a few nights ago and, do you know what she told me? She said that it was time to holster the laser guns and grow up. Can you believe that? I hate the fact that she's not a child anymore. I miss my little girl."

Kate's face softened at his fathering ramble. She loved 'Dad Castle'. "Oh, wow. I'm sorry about that, Castle. I can't believe she didn't want to play Laser-tag. I've always wanted to try it. Seems like a lot of fun."

The writer tilted his head to one side and looked at her in surprise. "Really? You serious?" He asked amused.

She smiled. "Yeah. Since that day I went by the loft and caught you in the middle of a game. Seemed pretty cool." She said. She had been intrigued by the game since then, but never dared to ask him to play.

Castle stared at her for minute, wondering. "Um. Maybe… Nah, forget it."

"No, what?"

He didn't answer, only stared at her narrowing his eyes.

"Castle, what?" She insisted.

He sighed. "Well, I was thinking… Would you like to come and play with me? You know, the last game before I give it away."

Beckett's eyes lighted up. She suddenly had an overwhelming feeling of hope growing inside her. Maybe it was not too late.

"Oh… Yeah! Sure. I'd love to." She said, still a little surprised. "Thanks, Castle."

The detective put the case box away at the archive, grabbed her coat and then leaded the way to the elevator. A Laser-tag battle with Castle; that was going to be interesting.

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**An hour and a half later…**

Castle was crouching behind one of the armchairs in his living room, the blue lights of his vest shining cheerfully against his chest. He tried to keep as quiet as he could to see if he could hear Beckett moving around. They had been playing for almost an hour, and after running and yelling around for a while they had opted for hiding and plan their ambushes in silence.

Beckett was a trained cop and that made the game a little more difficult for him. She knew how to move, where to hide, what to use as a shield in case she needed it… Laser-tag with her had turned out to be a challenge, a fun like hell challenge.

He heard someone moving behind the couch and then caught a glimpse of light chestnut hair showing behind on of the armrests. He had to move fast if he wanted to surprise her.

The writer moved quickly around the chair and practically crept his way to the couch. He hid behind it, right in the opposite side to where he had seen her. His vest got stuck with the fur of the carpet and he swore, revealing his position to Beckett, who got out of her hideout and ran to shelter herself behind a column.

"That was close, Castle! Too bad you're so noisy." She laughed.

He snorted. "Come on, Beckett! Aren't you tired of hiding?"

_More than you know._ She thought. "I won't come out to let you win, Writerboy."

He rolled his eyes at that. _Like you would ever make things easy for me._ "I'm jut saying that this is supposed to be a battle, not a hide and seek game." He said moving behind the couch, very slowly so she couldn't hear him.

_Ok, he's right on that._ She admitted to herself. "But it would be stupid to just step out and let you shoot me. Where's the fun in that, Castle?"

By the time she finished those words he was standing right behind her, his gun pointing towards her. "Well, the fun would be that we would be finishing a game and starting another." He said.

His voice startled her, but she didn't make a move when she felt Castle's laser gun pressing against her back. After the initial shock, she smiled and threw her gun to the couch.

"Hmm. Seems you got me, Castle." She said, raising her arms in surrender.

The writer smirked at her gesture and moved closer, taking his gun from her back and throwing it to the couch with hers. His arms circled her waist and he felt her shiver.

Something had changed during that game; something had been explained. He didn't know how, but suddenly he knew all his fears were unfounded.

He leaned closer and nuzzled the soft spot behind her ear, grazing the skin of her neck with his every breathing. He felt her stiffen at his touch, but as soon as he tightened his grip on her waist she relaxed. He could not say the same about her breathing. She was practically panting.

"Kate?" He called her.

Her brain was off. Right then the only thing she could do was feeling and her response was a mere, "Huh?"

Castle smiled and caught her earlobe with his teeth. "Nothing."

He bit her, his lips closing around the little piece of flesh and sucking on it until he heard her moan. His mouth trailed down, putting open mouthed kissed all over her neck, his tongue licking and tasting as much skin as it could.

Her legs felt like jello and she thanked God that he was holding her, because if he weren't, she would be lying on the floor by now.

"Castle." She moaned. "I… Oh God… I'm not hiding anymore." She managed to say through her labored breathing. "I… I love you."

His lips left her skin and she panicked, but his arms were still around her and she could feel the air coming out of his wicked mouth in her nape, so she tried to relax and give him the time he needed to assimilate the news.

Castle was way more than surprised. "You… You do?"

He let go of her waist, grabbing one of her arms and making her turn around to face him. She didn't need to talk. For the first time in weeks he was able to read her face.

Kate moved closer, her arms locking behind his neck, making him lean down. "I do, Rick. More than anything."

His smile lighted the room, before he closed the space between them and kissed her.

At last.

Their war was over, and it had only taken them five weeks, a flight attendant, a British agent, a crazy cop, a bunch of zombies and a Laser-tag game to come out of their trenches and show their white flags.

Someone said once that there are no winners at war, but they'd make sure they would be winners at love.

THE END.

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**Fluff much? lol. I hope I didn't give you diabetes with that ending. I was feeling romantic today :P**

**Let me know what you guys think ;)**


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